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Apollo
12 was the second mission in which humans walked on the lunar surface.
Launch
took place under cloudy, rain-swept skies on 14 November 1969 from
Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft was struck by lightning
36 seconds after launch and again 52 seconds after launch, which
momentarily shut off electrical power and cut out telemetry contact.
Power was automatically switched to battery backup while the crew
restored the primary power system. During lunar coast, the LM was
checked out to ensure no electrical damage had been caused by the
lightning.
On
19 November 1969 Commander Charles P. "Pete" Conrad and Alan L.
Bean landed in Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) while CM pilot
Richard F. Gordon continued in lunar orbit. Conrad made the first
precision landing on another world, landing within site of the Surveyor
3 spacecraft which had been there since 1967.
Conrad
and Bean performed two surface EVA's, one on 19 November and one
on 20 November, during which an Apollo lunar surface experiments
package (ALSEP) was placed on the lunar surface, 34.4 kg of samples
of the lunar terrain were acquired, various photographs were exposed
by the astronauts during lunar surface activities, and parts were
taken from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft for examination.
The
LM took off from the Moon on 20 November and the astronauts returned
to Earth on 24 November.
Performance
of the spacecraft, the first of the Apollo H-series missions, was
very good for all aspects of the mission. The primary mission goals
of an extensive series of lunar exploration tasks, deployment of
the ALSEP, and demonstration of the ability to remain and work on
the surface of the Moon for an extended period were achieved.
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